Noémie Merlant, Emmanuelle Bercot, Bastien Bouillon
Jeanne (Noémie Merlant), a shy young woman, lives at home with her uninhibited bartender mother and works the graveyard shift as a cleaner at an amusement park. Her mother wants her to find a man, but Jeanne prefers tinkering around with wires, light bulbs, and spare parts, creating miniature versions of theme park rides.
During her late-night shifts she begins spending time with the new Tilt-A-Whirl ride that she decides to call Jumbo. Finding herself seduced by ‘his’ red lights, smooth chrome and impressive hydraulics, Jeanne concludes that the thrilling new relationship she wants to pursue may not be with a man at all.
Writer-director Zoé Wittock brings gleeful energy, buoyant humour and surrealistic style to an unusual love story in her debut feature. Taking the perspective of Jeanne, who is played with focus and emotion by Noémie Merlant (Portrait of a Lady on Fire), allows us to enter her world of self-discovery and desire, while her devoted mother struggles to understand her unconventional choices.
Film images courtesy of Caroline Fauvet
